A SOLDIER'S Halloween
by OhJay
Summary: Dispite his age, Zack decides to go out trick or treating, and to drag Cloud with him as well. However, things may not go as planned...Oneshot, implied CloudxTifa and ZackxAerith.


_**A SOLDIER'S Halloween**_

"Can you believe him?" Zack angrily ranted to Cloud.

"Uh..."

" 'To old'" Zack quoted in air quotes. "Yeah right, it's a tradition for crying out loud!" he continued.

"I guess..." Cloud said quietly, not really sure why Zack was getting so worked up about it all.

"You know what, screw what Angeal says!" Zack said, making Cloud blink as he looked up at him.

He couldn't have heard that right, after all Zack wouldn't normally defy his mentor no matter what the case.

"I'm going trick or treating and no one's gonna stop me!" Zack declared with a smile while Cloud let out a sigh.

He for one thought Angeal was actually right about him being to old. The whole concept seemed pretty childish to him, and while he could see why kids enjoyed it, teens and adults still going out and participating seemed a little to much.

"You wanna come with me spiky?" he asked.

"No thanks."

"Oh, but come on!" he whined. "I don't wanna go out all alone, that would just be silly!"

"Why don't you take Aerith with you then?" Cloud suggested.

"Busy selling flowers that night, needs a little extra pocket money or something."

"Kunsel?"

"He thinks he's to old."

"Reno?"

"He'll be to busy out playing pranks."

"And you're not gonna join him?" Cloud asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I will, just AFTER I get some candy. I work better while on lots of sugar."

Cloud groaned and buried his face in his hand. He hoped Zack wouldn't try and drag him into that part as well, that was just asking for trouble.

"Pleeeease Cloud?" he asked with his irresistible puppy dog eyes.

"I don't have a costume Zack." he said still trying to get out of it.

"Oh you've got a whole week to whip something up. If it comes to that you can barrow one of my uniforms and go as a SOLDIER or something."

Cloud sighed, finally giving in.

"Fine..." he said making Zack smile brightly.

"Thanks Cloud." he said as he ruffled his spikes.

"Dare I ask; what are you going as?"

"Don't really know yet." he said with a shrug. "But now I have an idea..."

Cloud did not like the mischievous grin on his face, it ALWAYS meant trouble.

* * *

><p>"There." Zack said frustratingly as he finally got his wig on.<p>

He hadn't thought dealing with his spiky hair would be that hard to deal with, but he had spent the last hour in front of the bathroom mirror trying to make it stay flat so he could put his wig on. It had taken not one, but TWO wig caps, and three packages of bobby pins, but he could finally slide the wig on without it looking spiky underneath.

He sighed from relief, then heard his phone ring. He grabbed it off the counter next to him, and smiled when he saw it was Cloud.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm outside, but what are you telling Angeal?" Cloud asked.

"I'm in luck; Genesis somehow dragged him and Sephiroth to a Halloween party as the three musketeers."

He heard Cloud chuckling on the other line.

"I'd like to see that."

"I'd offer to crash it later, but Sephy would murder me if he saw me."

"...What did you do?" Cloud asked rather annoyed.

"You'll see in a minute, I'm coming down." he told him before he hung up.

He took a second to adjust his wig, grabbed his prop and bag for candy, then happily ran down the stairs outside. He looked around for his friend wondering what he had come up with as a costume, but didn't see him.

"You didn't."

He looked towards the voice, and saw Cloud poking his head from behind a plant.

"I did." Zack said proudly as he adjusted Sephiroth's coat on him, and twirled Masamune. "You wouldn't believe how much this freaking wig cost, and it won't stay untangled for five seconds either. Anyway why are you hiding over there?"

"Because I look ridiculous..."

This made Zack raise an eyebrow, and peaked his curiosity of Cloud's costume.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Cloud asked.

Zack nodded, and Cloud slowly stepped out from behind the plant wearing chicken feet like slippers, and a yellow hoodie that was covered in matching feathers.

"It was the only thing I could think of..." he said while Zack resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the irony.

"Oh that's so much better than my idea."

"That's because it's not gonna get either of us killed."

"Oh will you just chill?" Zack asked as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure I borrowed his stuff without asking, what's he gonna do? Snap, go insane, burn down a village and go on a killing spree before trying to destroy the world? I don't think so."

"Can we just go now?" he asked wanting to get this over with.

"Yep." Zack said cheerfully as he leapt onto Cloud's back without any further warning. "CHAAARRGE!" he shouted as he pointed Masamune forward happy with his epic moment.

"..."

"Oh come on Cloud, let me have this." he half whined.

"Fine..." Cloud said softly as he began to walk while he carried Zack.

"You're a chocobo, get in character a bit."

"Wark." he said flatly.

"Put some heart into it."

Cloud groaned. This was going to be a long night for him...

* * *

><p>Although he wouldn't admit it, Cloud actually began to have fun after a while. It was glad seeing all the kids running around in their costumes happily collecting candy, and he felt a little more comfortable when he saw there were a few groups of teens around their ages out as well.<p>

Growing up in Nibelheim Halloween wasn't much of a big deal in a small village, and since none of the other kids liked him very much he never bothered with it. However, he remembered Tifa always giving him a bit of her candy to him every year. He smiled, remembering those times. Maybe this year he would return the favor and send her some.

Zack groaned, snapping him out of it.

"You ok?" he asked.

"No..." he moped.

"Well what's wrong then?"

"Look around Cloud, I can't even count how many little Sephiroth's I've seen tonight..."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's Halloween Cloud! You're supposed to be creative!"

Cloud sighed and shook his head. Only some one like Zack would get all worked up about something like that.

"Maybe next year I'll get Aerith in on it with me and we can be zombie couple or something, or maybe we could both be summons! She'd look pretty hot as Shiva."

Cloud rolled his eyes, but couldn't help thinking about what Tifa would look like in a Shiva costume and blushed.

"Well you've got a whole year to figure it out Zack."

As he continued to walk along with Zack still on his back, he noticed the house up ahead was one of the last in Sector 8, and also one that most of the kids were avoiding. He could see why, after all the flashy lights that could be seen through the windows, and the evil laughter sound effects playing on a hidden CD player made it seem like the perfect mad scientist's house.

"Last one Zack, are we skipping it?"

"Nah. It's like I told you: More decorated the house better the candy."

Cloud hadn't really been keeping track of who seemed to have the better candy, but he figured Zack was probably right about that most of the time. He shrugged, then walked up to the porch calmly and knocked.

"It sounds like he's got that noise coming from the inside..." Zack commented.

Then the front door swung open, revealing none other than Professor Hojo. They both paled, not wanting any candy Hojo had even glanced at.

"Wrong house!" Zack said suddenly as he wacked Cloud to get him going. This startled him and caused him to sriek a little before he turned around and started running, but instead of it sounding like a normal scream, it came out "KWEH!"

* * *

><p>Angeal sighed as he walked up the stairs to the apartment he shared with Zack. The party had gone well for a while, but then Genesis had drank to much the punch that someone had spiked, and had ended up pretty drunk. It took both of him and Sephiroth to get him out of there, and they had both just decided to head home early after the dropped Genesis off.<p>

Now all he wanted to do was take a nice hot shower and go to bed, but he soon found out that wasn't the case when he entered the apartment and saw Zack literally bouncing off the walls in his Sephiroth costume holding two giant pixie sticks. He could tell from the many candy wrappers strewn about on the floor that Zack was on one big sugar rush.

As he continued to bounce around and laugh happily like a child Angeal groaned and buried his face in his hand. He should've known that Zack wouldn't listen to him and go trick or treating anyway.

_**Author's Notes**_

Yeah I know it's a little late for a Halloween fic, but I came up with this last night when I took my siblings out trick or treating to get their candy (Mom said I'm to old, so that's what I had to do instead). So this is obviously another unbetaed fic (She doesn't have a working computer at home right now anyway T_T) so I apolijize for any errors.


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